Friday, August 03, 2018

A Signal Event

It would be very significant if South Korea's military rescues their citizens held by a Libyan group since July 6th:

A South Korean destroyer is steaming for Libya and South Korean special forces are on standby in Greece in preparation for a possible hostage rescue mission.

According to the presidential office on Thursday, the Korean navy’s anti-piracy Cheonghae unit has redeployed from the Gulf of Aden and is heading for the North African country.

The special forces are on Crete. I assume American forces and surveillance assets are working closely with the South Koreans.

South Korea is a strong power militarily and economically that has to spend most of its time worrying about its own neighborhood, what with North Korea looming over Seoul and in the background China and Russia.

As the balance has tilted against North Korea, South Korea has been able to start building a blue water navy that can be a global force.

If South Korean military power can be projected to Libya, it can certainly be projected to the South China Sea, eh?

If the South Koreans manage to rescue their people, this will be a signal event announcing South Korea's global status.